Electrode for spark plugs



Oct. 14

W. G. BENTLEY,

ELECTRODE FOR SPARK PLUGS Filed Nov. 1. 1922 ao: eq

Pmnud oa. 14, 1924.

UNITED STATES WILLI GLLDSTONE BENTLEY, F`WICHITA. FALLS, TEXAS, ASSIGNOB 0I ONE- rmi) 'ro :maaar aan' im wmm'ra uns, mas.

yONE-THIRD T0 Z. ROBERT WHITE, BOTH 0l' ELECT-.conn ron. slum: PLUGS.

Appunti@ mea november 1, 1922. serial no. seam.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, WILLIAM Gmns'rom: BENTLEY, acitizen of the United States, residing at Wichita. Falls, in the county of l Wichita and State of Texas, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Electrodes lfor Spark Plugs, of which the following is.

a s ecifcation.

, e present invention relates to improvements in electrodes, for spark plugs, whichl consists in a hollow or tubular member extending through the spark plug and terminatin within the same in an enlarged valve cham ropened at one end and arranged over the sparkin points of the anode and cathode, the an e bein secured to and extending across the mout of the valve cham- 'ber for the purpose of retaining the valve in position and producin a simple construction. One of the principal objects of the invention is tol roduce an electrode for spark plugs, which will permit a current or stream of air to be drawn into the engine cylinder upon each downward or suction n stroke of the iston in such a manner as to clean the sparlking points of the electrodes, to cool the same, and to reducethe vacuum caused in the engine cylinder which draws the oil up into the c linder past the piston ring, resulting in car nization.

A further object of the invention is to produce an electrode for spark plugs which will reducethe gasoline consumption to a material extent and which will be economical to manufacture and simple in construction.

The invention further resides in the sundry details of construction, combination and arrangement of parts which will appear in the V:following specification.

4 In this specification and the annexed drawings. the invention is disclosed in the form in which it is considered to be the best, but the invention is not limited to such form because it is capable of being embodied in 4 5 other forms; and it is to be understood that in and by the claims following the description herein it is intended to cover the invention in whatever form it may embody within the scope thereof. 5 f in detail to the drawingswhich illustrate e preferred embodiment of the invention as at present devised, v

Figure 1 is a ongitudinal sectional view of a spark plug equipped with the electrode of the present invention,

Fig. 2 is a cross section of the sprk plug taken substantially on line 2-2 of ig. 1,

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the electrode of the present invention, with parts broken awy to illustrate its interior construction, an

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary view of a modified form of the invention showing another way by which the s arking point may be secured to the valve chamber.

eferring particularl to the drawings,

A indicates the electro e of this invention consisting of an elongated tubular member 1 of electric conductive material, threaded at one end, as at 2, and enlarged at the othery end to form a chamber 3, in which the ball valve 4 is disposed, the ball valve being held in place by a T-shaped member, 5 forming the electrode proper which extends transversely across the open end of the chamber 3 and is secured thereto by suitable means. In the present showing, the cross head portion X of the electrode 5 has a bore therein which is brought to register with suitable openings formed in the walls of the chamber 3 at its lower edge, a pin or rod 6 .being extended through the bore and openings and riveted in place, as indicated at Y to rigidly secure the electrode 5 in sition. It is to be understood, however, t at while I have shown and described one means of securing the T-shaped spark point 5 in position, an

`other suitable means may be employed suc as for instance spot-welding, as shown at Y in Fig. 4.

At the juncture of the elongated tubular member 1 with the chamber 5 is formed a valve seat 7 upon which the ball valve will xgage to close the passage 8 in; the mem- The electrode A of this inventionis extended through a porcelain block B, such as is' usual in'spark plugs, the block B bei surrounded by the metallic shell or plug threaded, as usual, at D, ha at one int on its edge the usual cathode e ectrode to cooperate Sth the eleclrode 5F in 'tlzllp usual wayto r uceaspar gap eopen end of tlie chamber 3 is arran ed over the sApark gap F, aspindicated in e dra gasket Z of copper, asbestos or any suitable material surrounds the member 1 at its juncture with the valve chamber 3 so as to rest against-the shoulder Z of the porcelain to form a gas-tight joint when the electrode A is tightly clamped in position by the lock nuts 10 and 11 threaded on the end 2 of the tubular member 1. An electric terminal of the igniting system is attached to the upper end of the tubular member 1 in the usual manner and is held in position by the usual binding nut 12.

It will thus be observed that with the present electrode for spark plugs, the ball 4 will open the passage 8 through the ele:- trode upon each downward stroke of the piston and permit an inrush ol air into the cylinder and past the spark points F, but upon upward or compression strokes of the engine the ball valve 4 will move to its seat 7 and close the passage 8. This stream of air running into the cylinder through the spark plu has the multifold advantages of blowing irectly on the firing points F of the spark plug to remove dirt, oil and carbon therefrom and to cool them to a considerable extent; further to relieve the cylinder of the vacuum which is created by the downward strokes of the piston and to eliminate to a great extent oil being drawn up past the piston rings into the chamber of an engine cylinder, thus reducing carbonization; and further the air drawn down into the passage 8 will mix with the burnt gases and with the new charge of gas from the carbureter of the engine and produce a better mixture, and reduce the gas consumption for the power obtained.

The form of the invention shown in Fig. 4 shows substantially the same construction and elements shown in the other ligures of the drawing, except that the pin 6 is dispensed'with and the cross-head portion or rod is spot-welded at its end to the valve chamber. The same reference characters are employed in Fig. 4, as in the other figures of the drawing, toindicate similar parts except that these reference characters are raised by the exponents a and prime.

The electrode of this invention is extremely simple and very economical to manufacture, and is adaptable to any spark plug by either removing the usual anode electrode thereof or by boring the porcelain or insuas will receive applicants electrode.

lating block of the spark plug to such rilil'ae e sizes and proportions of the present electrode, shown in the drawings, are merely for the purpose of detailed illustration as these sizes and proportions can be varied as desired without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus described the invention in the form in which it is at present devised, what I claim as new and upon which Letters Patent are desired, is:

1. An electrode for spark plugsy comprising an elongated member having a passage therethrough, said member having a Valve chamber at one end thereof communicating with said passage and open at one end thereof, a valve in said chamber, a cross-rod extending diametrically across said open end of said chamber and having its ends secured thereto to obstruct said opening and retain said valve in the chamber, and an electrode depending from said rod.

2. An electrode for spark plugs comprising an elongated member having a passage therethrough, said member having a valve chamber at one end thereof communicating with said passage and open at one end thereof, a valve in Said chamber, a `T-shaped member having its oppositely extending arms extending transversely of said chamber to obstruct the opening therein and having their ends secured thereto to retain said valve in position, the other arm of said member projecting below said opening to form a sparking point.

3. An electrode for. spark plugs having a passage therethrough, a valve seat in said passage, a sparking point extending beloviT one endl of said passage and having lateral extending portions provided with a bore therein, a pin extending through the openings in the electrode and into the bore in said lateral portions of the sparking point whereby the latter is held in position, and a valve member in said passage between said valve seat and said lateral portions of said sparking point, whereby said lateral portions obstruct and retain said valve in said passage.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my handY WILLIAM GLADSTONE BENTLEY. 

